


This Dance That We Do

by Gingerwerk



Category: The Pacific (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Nightmares, PTSD, mild cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-29
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-05-03 21:40:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5307809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gingerwerk/pseuds/Gingerwerk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eugene didn’t sleep as well as he used to. Snafu didn’t sleep well either, never had. Together they make sure the other gets at least a couple hours of restful sleep a night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Dance That We Do

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr prompt for my friend Andrea, aka tumblr user billyboncs :)

* * *

Eugene didn’t sleep as well as he used to; it was a byproduct of the life and the profession he had chosen for himself. Sleeping pills didn’t work, at least they didn’t work well enough for Eugene, so when sleep escaped him, he didn’t try to force it. Almost every other night, Eugene found himself camped out on the living room couch in the middle of the night while he flipped between late night infomercials and reruns of the nightly news.

 

“Can’t sleep?”

 

Eugene turned in his seat and was unsurprised to find Snafu standing in the shadows of the hallway.

 

“No I just suddenly realized that we don’t own a Magic Bullet so I had to wake up to see if the infomercial was on so I could find the number,” Eugene answered; he tried to sound light but he knew he just sounded as tired as he felt.

 

“Well that will go great with the George Forman grill I’ve been eyeing,” Snafu said before he walked to the couch and motioned for Eugene to move over; Eugene complied.

 

Snafu didn’t sleep well either. Eugene was sure the guy had never slept very well in his life but the war definitely did nothing to improve his sleep habits.

 

This was the dance they did. Every night. If it wasn’t Eugene who woke up from nightmares or gave up on sleep from insomnia it was Snafu. One of them would get out of their shared bed and would escape into the night. If it was warm out, whoever got up would most likely be found out on the balcony, chain-smoking through a pack of cheap cigarettes until the other got up and followed after them. If the weather was less favorable, like tonight, the escapee would be most likely camped out on the couch.

 

“You know we have an entire bookshelf of movies right?” Snafu said as he jerked the remote control out of Eugene’s hand and motioned to the bookshelf that stood next to the television; both Eugene and Snafu had the habit of digging through the five-dollar DVD bins at the local supermarkets and it showed. “Why do you bother watching this shit?”

 

“Couldn’t decide,” Eugene shrugged; in all honestly he hadn’t bothered to look at the movies. After the dreams that woke him up tonight Eugene had needed distraction immediately and couldn’t wait for the time it’d take to pick a movie and set up the DVD player. “You pick.”

 

Snafu snatched the first movie he made contact with off of the shelf and popped the disc in into the DVD player. A moment later the title screen for _Jumanji_ appeared on the television screen.

 

“Wanna beer?” Snafu grunted as he pressed play.

 

“No thanks,” Eugene answered as he accepted the remote control back from Snafu; Eugene almost never drank whenever he couldn’t sleep but Snafu continued to ask every time anyways.

 

Eugene watched as Snafu disappeared into the dark hallway and continued to watch until he reappeared with a beer in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. Without a word Snafu tossed Eugene the water bottle- Eugene had anticipated it and caught it with ease -before he collapsed on the old couch next to Eugene. Eugene watched as Snafu threw an arm across the back of the couch, not quite touching his shoulders, cracked open the beer, and chugged a good third of it. Eugene couldn’t help but chuckle at the motions.

 

“What?” Snafu asked as he turned his head away from the television to look at Eugene.

 

“Nothing,” Eugene answered; it was almost comical, how easily they followed their roles in their nightly routine to a T. Everything from their banter to the arm thrown almost around his shoulders was expected but Eugene appreciated it all the same.

 

Things were quiet between them for a while, not until Alan Parrish reunited with his childhood friend Sarah Whittle did either one of them say a word.

 

“So you good?” Snafu asked as he dropped his empty beer bottle onto the floor, eyes still trained on the television.

 

Snafu always gave Eugene the option to talk if he needed to. Sometimes Eugene took him up on the offer. Eugene also gave Snafu the same chance when it was his turn but Snafu very rarely ever took him up on it.

 

“I am now,” Eugene answered honestly. When he had first woken up he had been covered in a cold sweat while his heart pounded and his hands shook. Now, over an hour later, he had calmed down enough to where he felt nothing but exhaustion. “Are you okay?”

 

“Course I am,” Snafu responded with a scoff. “You’re good so I’m good. That’s how this thing works.”

 

“Right,” Eugene said with a tired smile; this was how they worked.

 

“You look dead on your feet,” Snafu continued, his tone normal but his pale eyes showed concern.

 

“I am tired,” Eugene admitted; he had an exam this morning and had been up the past two nights studying for it.

 

Snafu jerked his head toward the end of the couch. Knowing what he meant, Eugene smiled before he laid his head down in Snafu’s lap and stretched his legs out toward the other end of the couch. Once Eugene was settled, Snafu pulled the old blanket that was always thrown over the back of the couch down and covered the two of them. Feeling his exhaustion take over, Eugene closed his eyes and let out a content sigh when he felt Snafu’s fingers run through his hair.

 

“Go to sleep, Eugene,” Snafu said quietly while his fingers slowly massaged Eugene’s scalp.

 

Eugene never fell asleep quicker or slept better than when he had his head in Snafu’s lap and Snafu’s hand in his hair while the television played softly in the background. A part of him wondered why he didn’t just try to fall asleep like this every night so that maybe he could sleep peacefully for once. Another part of him took comfort in this routine that they had and didn’t want it to end.

 

“ _Mmhhh,_ will do, Mer,” Eugene yawned before he snuggled closer around Snafu and drifted quickly to sleep while sounds of jungle animals played in the distance.

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos appreciated, thanks for reading :)


End file.
